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"Nay," he agreed, sounding surprised.
Pushing herself away from the wall, she patted his arm and reached for the lever to open the door herself. "We are both still weak. We need to build our strength back up and lying about in bed is no' likely to do that. A bit o' sun and fresh air will help though."
"Let us hope so. We still ha'e to travel back up those stairs, and I suspect going back up'll no' be as easy as coming down," he said unhappily.
"We can rest on the way back up if necessary," Saidh reassured him and then stepped back as she pulled the lever and the wall opened inward. Fresh air immediately rushed through the opening and they both inhaled deeply.
"I feel better a'ready," Alpin announced and she could see his grin in the sunlight pouring through the doorway.
Smiling, she leaned out to peek about and be sure there was no one nearby. Finding this part of the gardens empty, she relaxed and stepped out into sunlight and fresh air for the first time since being shot.
"Oh," Alpin breathed as he followed her. His gaze slid over the fruit trees that filled this end of the garden and he sighed happily. " 'Tis like entering paradise."
Saidh chuckled at the words, but silently admitted that he was right. Blue skies, bright sunlight, green grass, apple trees, and singing birds . . . it was like paradise. Funny how, after a few days without it, they now recognized the beauty they normally took for granted. Striding forward, she moved to the lower branches of the nearest tree. "Apple?"
"Aye, please!" Alpin almost hopped up and down with excitement. She suspected he actually would were he not so tired.
Reaching up, she plucked two of the ripest apples she could see among those low enough for her to reach, then walked over to hand him one. "Where shall we sit to eat them?"
"In the shade o' the tree," Alpin decided and led her back under the branches to settle against the trunk of the tree.
Saidh sat down next to him and they fell silent as they ate their apples.
"How long do ye think yer brothers'll sleep?" Alpin asked suddenly.
Considering the question, Saidh tossed her apple core away, and then stifled a yawn before admitting, "I'm no' sure. An hour or two. Why?"
"I was just thinking it would be nice to nap here under the tree," he admitted with a chagrined expression.
Saidh chuckled softly at the admission, but understood his embarrassment. She would not mind napping here either. Which meant they'd gone to all this trouble to escape the bedchamber only to sleep in the grass. Shaking her head, she pointed out, "Geordie and Alick may sleep for an hour or two, but that does no' mean Aulay or Dougall may no' go up to check on us ere that."
"Aye," Alpin agreed on a little sigh as he tossed his own finished apple aside. "For all we ken they may already ha'e done so and discovered us missing."
"Nay," Saidh assured him. "Were that the case, we'd ha'e heard Aulay bellowing at Geordie and Alick fer letting us escape."
"All the way from here?" Alpin asked dubiously.
"Aulay's fair loud when he wants to be," she said dryly and then suggested reluctantly, "I suppose we should think about heading back in now."
"Already?" Alpin groaned.
"I suspect it'll take us much longer to mount the stairs than it did to come down them," she said quietly. "Especially if we ha'e to stop and rest a time or two."
"Oh, aye," Alpin said on a sigh, and then asked, "But can we come out again tomorrow?"
"If ye help me sneak more o' Rory's sleeping tincture, we can," she said as they both stood up.
"His satchel is probably in his room. We could stop and sneak some now, on the way back to the master bedchamber," Alpin suggested as he watched her brush down her skirts to remove any grass or leaves that may have attached themselves to her. "That would save us ha'ing to try to distract him later."
"Is there an entrance to his room from the passage?" she asked with surprise as she straightened.
"There's an entrance to e'ery room on that side o' the hall."
Saidh considered the setup of the upper floor and then frowned. "Windows."
"What about them?" Alpin asked, tilting his head curiously.
"The passage is along the outer wall, but there are windows there," she explained, "How--"
"The passage floor is six or seven feet below the windows. The floor o' the passage slants downwards when ye first step out o' the master bedchamber. Did ye no' notice?"
"Nay," she admitted, a little surprised that she'd missed that detail.
"There are stairs from the other rooms, very narrow stairs cut into the stone, but because it starts on the side wall and then turns to follow along the outer wall, they just slanted the floor for the entrance to the master's bedchamber."
"Hmmm," Saidh murmured and decided she'd have to pay closer attention on the way back in. Shrugging, she glanced to him and raised an eyebrow. "Ready?"
He snorted at the question. "I ha'e been waiting fer you. Are ye done fussing with yer gown?"
Saidh wrinkled her nose at the lad, and placed a hand at his back to urge him toward the still open passageway. "Ye'd do well with a bit o' fussing o' yer own. Ye've a leaf stuck to yer arse. 'Twill gi'e us away do me brothers see it."
"Nay!" Alpin stopped walking and turned to try to see his backside as he brushed at it. "Is it gone? Did I get it?"
Saidh grinned to herself with amusement and continued walking toward the passage entrance. She'd only been teasing him. There was no leaf on his plaid.
"Saidh!"
She thought he'd realized her trick when he yelled her name, so was taken completely by surprise when he slammed into her back, sending her crashing forward. Her head hit and bounced off the castle wall as she was plastered against it by his weight. The blow sent up a roaring in her skull that nearly blocked out the sound
of Alpin's grunt of pain and the thud of something heavy hitting the ground behind them.
"What?" she began with confusion, raising one hand instinctively to her forehead and pressing the other against the castle wall as she tried to push away from it. But Alpin was still pressed to her back . . . and then she felt him begin to slide to the ground behind her.
Forgetting about her head, she glanced around and tried to grab at him. Her eyes widened in alarm when she caught a glimpse of bright red blood on his back.
"Alpin?" she said sharply and then spotted the collection of large stones on the ground directly behind him. It looked like one of the merlons had come down from the battlement along the top of the castle wall . . . and Alpin had received a glancing blow by the stones as they fell. Actually, she would have been crushed by them had he not suddenly crashed into her, Saidh realized as she saw where the stones rested. He'd saved her life . . . and been injured in the process.
Cursing, she released her hold on Alpin and let him slip to rest against the backs of her legs. She then shifted out from between him and the wall as carefully as she could before turning and dropping to her knees to examine him. He had landed crumpled on the ground and she could see that it wasn't just his back that had been injured, for there was blood on the back of his head as well.
Mouth tightening, she turned him over. He had been terribly pale ever since the fever had felled him, but now he was as white as death.
"Alpin?" she said, patting his cheek gently. When she got no response, Saidh glanced around in the hopes that one of the servants may have come out into the garden in search of an herb or vegetable for the sup, but it was empty. She had to get him help herself, but feared leaving him there on his own. What if another merlon fell?
She wasn't taking that chance. She'd have to take him to help. That wouldn't have been a problem a week ago, she would have merely hefted him over her shoulder and carried him around to the kitchens. But right now she wasn't sure she had the strength to heft a kitten over her shoulder. Hell, just getting her own weight back up the stairs had seemed like a major undertaking moments ago; carting around a boy who must weigh four or five stone . . .
Grinding her teeth with frustration, Saidh turned back to Alpin and set to work.
